Luxurious living in June

So DK set off on his work trip. I was a bit concerned as since arriving in Japan we haven't really been apart.

That day I went to lunch. To a restaurant at the end of a canal. It was great. The four of us sat outside protected from the sun under an awning and looked out over the water. We then went round to visit a Venezuelan woman selling Japanese pottery in someone else's house!

I had time to get out my sewing machine. Making a shirt using a Vogue pattern. (predictive texting suggested a fag pattern!)  I specialise in clothes that don't fit me in material I like - think the pattern needed a more draping fabric rather than cotton! Oh well onto the next one!

 

And of course I could go for curry, I went to the place that A and G ate at on their visit. I decided to go for the thali as I thought if I ordered separate dishes I would end up with a mountain of food. Instead I ended up a mountain range of food, the naan bread was absolutely enormous. I was so stuffed I had to come home and drink mint tea to help with my digestion! The next day at the Farmers Market I had another curry!

I also went to the hairdressers. Up till now I've been using one Dominic had found. This one was certainly posher and I was in a room on my own. The whole process took two hours!  I wandered down the hill and got a coffee and went for a wander and a sit down in the fabulous park nearby. From the map I could see there was a library in the park so went to have a look.  I arrived and asked where I could put my empty coffee cup and was told there were no bins. I pointed outside and asked if there was a bin. There wasn't. The woman pointed to the coin lockers. So I left my coffee cup and some of my other detritus and went to read a couple of magazines. Collecting the contents of the coin locker before I left.


You might find a recycling bin by a drinks machine or one in the equivalent of a Seven 11 shop. There are no bins on the street or in parks.

On my list for a while has been to visit Nippori also known as fabric town.  The place is packed with fabric shops.

On Tuesday I went out with a couple of people from Berlitz for another curry!  

The Issey Miyake exhibition which people had raved about was closing soon. I hadn't understood before that his clothes are just folds of fabric. if you lift a garment up by the straps it's a bit like a Christmas paper decoration.  It suddenly develops form and a dress appears! Pretty amazing.  On the way there I spotted this old house - in the centre of Tokyo.

Met a mate for a walk along a valley and then had dinner together....yes curry but totally different this time as I had a glass of wine with it. 

Invited to watch a parade 3 of us waited in the cool of a building. Fumie called the shrine from where the procession...running 20 mins late.  We waited some more. She then went outside to check- the lack of people had seemed strange. We were in the wrong street!  We hurried along and caught the parade.  We then went to see the guest place at the palace which is not open very often.

Saturday I headed off to an ikebana session - I chose my leaves and a thistle type flower.  I of course realised it was a true thistle after I'd caught my hand on the thorny bits a few times.  I couldn't decide where to eat...so you've guessed it - another curry !

Having a coffee the person next to me nipped off to the loo....leaving her handbag, computer and phone.  This is absolutely normal in Tokyo ...

DK returned from his work trip so we went to check out the local irises....as it is iris season. He struggled through the rest of the week.  At the weekend he'd promised me coffee - and here it is!

Bods here mad about animal cafes. I went to the hedgehog one.  Do you think this fella is confused by the fabric of my dress?

Manic May

We got back off holiday and I started an intensive Japanese course. Going to lessons every afternoon. I was in a group of eight and joined a week in. The others were able to write and read hiragana.  I scribbled manically trying to decipher the text rather than being able to read instantly from it. Turns out the student next to me had studied Japanese in college for a year! 

What got me through it!

Teacher on left  a bit shy! So I presented certificate to student

One evening we met up with Wei a friend from Shanghai vision days. He was in Tokyo on a conference. Dominic said we were going for a curry and I was delighted. However we queued up with the 20 people from the conference to go into the ninja restaurant!  We had to go in in sets of five and be led through the corridors and shown the various trapdoors! I was tired and was not amused by this delay in me getting food. We sat down and had pate with crackers in the shape of some ninja weapon. We then had gazpacho... And so the strange mix went on.  Wei asked Dominic if he could stand up and tell people what his first impressions were of working in Japan.  Then everyone stood up and did their summary of the conference.  They were all incredibly motivated by their experience here. We left them to go on drinking and we returned home.

C & M came to visit. I was so excited I woke up at 5:30 when their plane landed.  I decided to get up and do some lesson prep but it was soon 7am and they were ringing the doorbell. Well actually they had rung the doorbell of other neighbours twice.  oops!

We went to Akihabara otherwise known as Electric Town. We headed for Yodabashi Camera.  I stayed on one floor which was full of model making kits of all kinds of stuff as well as Gacha Gacha machines.  They show what the series of plastic things are: cats on sushi, parrots, hamsters in various poses. You put your money in and the thing comes out in a plastic ball. 

Yes it really is a whole bottle of whisky in a vending machine!

We came home via commune 246.  Basically a series of outdoor stalls selling different drinks and food. 

On Monday DK went to work and the rest of us went to the fish market together which was an experience. It sells $24 million of fish a day!  The plan afterwards was to go and eat sushi. However we'd seen fish in various states. In pools of blood, writhing on the floor with someone ready with a knife and a long bit of wire. Euch!  So no one said anything but we were no longer hungry for raw fish.  Instead we ate the samples from the many different food stalls nearby. 

The next day they headed off to Kyoto returning for the weekend. On Saturday we dashed over to Kamakura.  Where we saw the impressive Buddha and then caught an old fashioned train to go over to and around an island.  We had been there before but this time I did have the jellyfish ice cream.  All I will say is that the black sesame was better.  C queued up to get a prawn and a squid.  But they are mixed with some pancake type mix and came completely flattened as a big crispy wafer. 



On Sunday C had found a Time Out walk to do in a trendy area so this is what we did. It has a few French things in town including A Cordon Bleu cookery school. And we arrived to find a French festival going on! So Dominic and I had some French savoury pastries in other words - Pies!

We headed back home to a salad place we recently discovered that C loves.  C and M's second visit! 

Sadly M left which meant the next morning C and I did some work separately and then went out for a drink and a chat together. We went to some trendy organic kind of place. It had the green tea latte that C loves.  It also did decaffeinated coffee which is very unusual. I asked for a latte. That wasn't possible but I could have a drip coffee decaffeinated. I asked for some milk with it and was told that wouldn't be possible. However eventually it was!  We had a great time sitting out and chatting... How come you have the most meaningful conversations just before friends depart?
C then left to get a taxi to the train station to go to her business meeting in another part of Japan.

The rest of May disappeared quickly in a series of English and Japanese lessons.

It was our 15th wedding anniversary this year and I tried to book a posh lunch at Joel Robuchon's several months ago but the place was already busy. Well that's what it showed on the website but the problem was it didn't take bookings so far in advance. By the time I realised this it was actually full. Joel has another place in town which is less posh so I booked that instead. I joked with Dominic that we should go away for the weekend and he said we would see. I'm not sure why as we were both exhausted. The plan for the weekend was lots of nothing followed by lunch and then more nothing and reading papers.

DK had been trying different churches but decided to return to the original so we asked C and R if after church they would like to go to the trendy area for lunch which they did on the condition that we go to some random place they had been to before; a Yemen coffee shop that serves dates (and of course coffee). 

Off on our holidays!

The Japanese do not take their holiday entitlement. So the government create public holidays in order to force people to have a rest. In May there is a three day public holiday called Golden week. (mmm yeh I know 3 days does not a week make!) So Dominic and I took the whole week off and the week before it!

So wearing my Snoopy chocks away t-shirt we headed off to the south west islands of Japan, Ishigaki, Myakojima and Okinawa. 

Ishigaki - a direct flight from Tokyo. Met at the airport by a very laid-back Korean hostel owner after we'd seen various posters displaying the poisonous wildlife in the area.  We rented the owners car- no paperwork to fill-in, no surveying the car beforehand and I don't even think he checked whether we had a driving license! 

Jimmy the jockey!

 



He had drawn a map of the local area on which he marked the various local beaches, bakeries, cafes and restaurants and where to watch sunsets.  

We went down to a beach from which you're not allowed to swim because they don't want people interfering with the pearl cultivation beds. The water was a fabulous turquoise. 

We spent the next 5 days driving around going swimming, snorkeling and venturing to 2 nearby islands.  The furthest one is known as the jungle of Japan. We weren't sure whether to go or not but eventually did and went to do the trip down the mangrove river and then walk to a few waterfalls. Down at the river at the ticket "office"  the woman selling the tickets asks "where are you from?" Dominic says Ireland and her immediate response is "cold". The bloke in the ticket booth with her who we assume is her husband pipes up that he lived in Ireland for two years. He's a jockey he says the name of the stable he used to work at,  Dominic is able to tell the guy that his mum and dad know the owner! Bonkers!

I feel that the lonely planet guide loves telling its readers to go to way out places and then suggest going somewhere even further away that is absolutely brilliant. They said the best beach in Japan is Moon beach on this jungle island, so we decided to head for it. At the bus stop we can't work out what the schedule is. Thankfully someone tells us we have a two hour wait. We asked them if they know our favourite beach on Ishigaki. They do so we asked them how Moon beach compares. Without hesitation they say our beach is better. So we head straight back to the ferry. Ha! Lonely planet we have beaten you! 

View from our bedroom

However at the beach I realise I haven't got my snorkel gear. Dominic has and is telling me that he can't describe how fabulous the fish are. (His snorkel mask is fitted with prescription lenses so borrowing them would not be the best!)    But then the sea goes absolutely flat, I am just standing in the water up to my waist and I can see perfectly the fish swimming around me.

We tried out the various local restaurants; the only issue being that you would typically bump into somebody from the hostel and then there would be the awkward question of whether you should eat together....

Best snorkeling

 

Sat here and enjoyed a pizza!

Next Myakojima, my favourite island. It's actually one island linked to 4 others by very impressive bridges. One of which I think is the longest bridge in Japan. How on earth such a small community can afford or justify the expense I have no idea but it was very handy for us.

There are many beautiful beaches. We stayed at a weird Moroccan place that was expensive and had shared toilets and bathrooms. The owner was great at knowing what the weather was doing and which direction the wind was blowing and based on this was able to tell us the best                                                              beaches to go to.

We went to what was labelled the best snorkeling beach.  We just walked in from the beach and within a few yards it was just like swimming in an aquarium. The guy renting out the umbrellas and chairs played an Okinawan instrument that sounded very plinky-plonky. It was most surreal to be snorkeling and hearing this music.

 


The Japanese apparently love getting kitted out for any activities. So they went into the water with a full wet suit, booties, gloves!, and often a flotation vest.  We just had our swimming gear but it made me wonder if they knew something we didn't.

Our last island was Okinawa. It's bigger and it's famous for having about 20,000 American troops living there. Someone commented that the best areas are fenced off for their training activities.

We flew into the capital Naha which does not look attractive and headed out for an hour to get to the Marriot hotel. Our friendly relocation agent in Tokyo, Louise, had moved in December to work there. She had arranged a great hotel rate and somehow managed to get us upgraded twice. From our massive luxurious room we could see the huge pool below. We had fun with Louise going to a tourist village recreation thing which normally I would not like but it had lots of crafts you could do.  So between us we made a candle!

trendy coffee van

Fabulous Japanese meal at the Marriot!

Also visited the massive aquarium. Beaches looked great but you could only swim in the netted area. So even if you walked out to the deepest bit you were still not up to your armpits. So we were glad that we had maxed out on swimming and snorkeling at the previous islands. 

We headed home.  And I joined a four week intensive Japanese course the next day. 

April events....

Friends A and G arrived into a very wet Tokyo. Impressibly spurting Japanese words and full of cultural knowledge. They put us to shame (as normal!)

They were keen to go to NohTheatre. An ancient Japanese art form. We went to a performance with English subtitles. We were also handed an English summary sheet as we walked in. Good eh? However the session started off with a 30 minute talk by a Japanese man who stood on the same spot and had no visuals to accompany his talk. He laughed in several places but I checked and the Japanese in the audience we not laughing along with him. In fact a guy in the front row had hit head right back enjoying a good sleep.  Know how he felt as it was incredibly difficult to stay awake! 

With the rain we thought all the blossoms might have disappeared but we decided to go and seek them out anyway. We then managed to find a Gyozo dumpling place someone had recommended and gorged on them with grated carrots and beer. (The beer was not grated). 

For discussion class, talking
about needs found this!

Doing the Shibuya crossing but going their own route!

Ordered a Deuter 20L for the weekend!

Our friends then disappeared to do some travelling around Japan and the following Friday we met them in Hiroshima for the weekend.(I'd decided my Deuter 10L was not up to the visit so ordered a 20L joining Amazon prime to get it in time.  I'd been hanging out to get it in Kiwi Turquoise but it was not to be found anywhere...I've included a photo as I know everyone will be interested. If you need me to send you the link to a video showing all the features just let me know.

In our hotel room on the eighth floor? We were woken up at 1 AM by the earthquake....

The next day A & G had arranged a guide to take us to the shrine built on stilts in the water and then to do all things related to the atomic bomb. Thankfully the old photos were suitably grainy so I could not see the full horror of it all.  All the various venues focus on peace rather than war. A number of kids were out in town collecting signatures to stop nuclear weapons, to give to Obama on his visit.(list of signatures not nuclear weapons).

Know where we are but no idea how
to get to where we want!

Intrepid explorers!

The next day we went to a temple with lots of waterfalls. Lovely.Decided to go on the recommended walk which came without a map. Never a great idea. Several paths were roped off and we ended up climbing down another way. And then following a service road that is in the process of being made. Visitors at the temple were surprised to see us appear from the river!

We all got ourselves lunch at the station and headed off to a park. One of the nicest I've ever been to. Dominic and I then returned to the train station to go home. 

We got to go to a baseball game to see the Giants play, luxuriously from a box. In the cheap seats on everyone's chair was a freebie of a Giants branded t shirt.  I did not realise but some were orange and some were black.  When you looked at the crowd something was cleverly spelt out in kanji.

A&G returned to base. We went with them to the cheapest bar in Tokyo.  It's a set of vending machines that unusually stock alcoholic drinks.  So everyone buys whatever they want and stands or sits around drinking. 

We finished off their holiday with a display of ikebana, then to a garden with bonsai trees.  It's part of some wedding complex. So you cannot move for brides and grooms and their entourages. 

That's it! 

Cherried out!

Well St Patrick's day arrived and went in a flurry of drinking, eating and lots of green tinsel!  
We went to the Emerald ball which was good fun and involved a lot of dancing.There's even a parade at a high street near us.  So we signed ourselves and our friends A&A, who were visiting from the UK, up.  Perhaps not the most Japanese thing to do on day 3 of your holiday!  

A couple were sitting having lunch with a box on their table...I peeked in and this is what I saw!

We had several visits to a shop called Tokyu hands - it does loads of stuff from wood to Snoopy stickers...and lots of pens and pencils. You know those bulky biro contraptionswhere you can choose from 4 different colours red, blue, black or green in one device?  Well here you can choose the empty device and then pick the colours that you want!!! Amaze balls! 

Mount Fuji - looking great!

We went away for a night to Hakone - we did the fabulous open air museum and the following day we took a bus, a cable car to get a good view of Mount Fuji, a boat across the lake (pirate themed of course!) and then walked part of an ancient path.  The Japanese have a fascination with taking multiple forms of transport and that is one reason why Hakone is so popular. 

For the final night together we went to Andy's - Andy is a northern lad who has been out here for ages and runs a typical Isakaya restaurant (pub) which is squeezed under the railway arches. He goes to the famous Tokyo fish market each day. Fermented sea cucumber was not available so he suggested sea pineapple. We asked what it was like and he said it was one of the most disgusting things you could put in your mouth. So we ordered a portion!  A couple asked to see the dessert menus, Andy said there are none…but then produced a few After Eights from his own personal supply!

Chocolate tart with cherries.  Coffee with a pastry containing marmalade to add to your coffee - the marmalade not the pastry!

Blossom...with a bird!

Naka Meguro

We waved our friends off the next day at 6am, and at 9:30am were installed at our first hanami (Blossom watching) party! The Japanese don't really do picnic blankets instead they use massive bits of blue tarpaulin to mark their space.  Peeps from our group had arrived on site at 6 am to grab the space under the biggest cherry tree. We started off with yoga and having finished this the beers were opened!! Food ranged from sashimi, fried chicken, Doritos, cheesecake to a Dominos pizza that was delivered! We then went to another party on a housing estate it featured various random entertainers. Apparently it is very traditional for people to balance spinning tops on the edge of fans and swords!  The excitement!  The local school brass band was the finale. 
A place called Naka Meguro is famous for blossom watching - has loads of trees either side of a river which join each other over the water. Great viewpoints from the various bridges. The place is also full of stalls selling food and drink. I treated myself to a Sakura flavoured fizzy wine for around three quid. Dominic managed to hold out till he saw the pink Chandon for £3.50 a glass!  We were blossomed out! 

Another public holiday! Shrines and racing.....

Well it was another public holiday so we went off to Nikko famous for its shrines.

Luckily for us that evening the statues along the river were being lit by candle light.  So we checked in, had a coffee went and had a look at the famous red lacquer bridge and then walked along the river and waited for it to get dark!

Next day we arrived early at the shrines - beautiful setting with lots of trees and some snow on the rooftops. Saw the three monkeys and exhausted our phone batteries with all the photos we took. 

The monkeys!

 I suggested to Dominic that that we should treat ourselves to lunch as I had read about a place nearby. It was cold outside but the restaurant was very cozy and Dominic soon spotted a 15 quid bottle of fizzy Moet and kind of asked "should we order that?"  We did and toasted the arrival of Charles. The staff were keen to serve us as quickly as possible but eventually they understood that we wanted to just sit and relax!

More shrines in the afternoon. At the last one which was my favourite Dominic bumped into the woman that sits next to him at work. Taking the bus back

to the hotel Dominic got off early to go to the onsen. I did a bit of shopping along the High Street at a kind of antique junk vintage shop- very enjoyable.

The next day we went to Chozen lake. There were a few snow igloo type houses in which were displayed impressive ice sculptures.

We found a walk to do and the tourist office said our shoes were fine and that the snow was only 3 inches deep. Within five minutes of starting the walk I was knee deep in snow!  We continued for a while but I suggested we should turn back. Having got back to the main drag Dominic realised the bus was due in five minutes so we ran up the hill to the bus stop. The bus arrived and we got on puffing and red-faced only to hear from the back of the bus "konnichiwa!" Dominic's colleague again. She commented "Dominic you are sweating."

We stopped for some noodles and I took my shoes and socks off in order to dry them out!  Had a look at the waterfall and then got on the bus back to the hotel. However we got off early to go to a recommended coffee place which turned out to be fantastic and then we decided to go to the onsen. It was on the roof of the building and from it we would get a great view of the fireworks further down the river.

How do they do those circle things?

So I sat in a bath outside waiting for the fireworks to start. I was joined by three Japanese women. I smiled at them to try and look friendly and so they then started to talk to me in English and Japanese. The fireworks started and we all jumped out of the bath to get a better view. There was much oohing and aahing and clapping. Once finished we all got back into the bath to warm up. Some piped music was playing and they asked me if I knew the song. I didn't so the three of them started to sing it to me. It was very lovely that they were so chatty and friendly so I gave one of them my card and said if they were in my area could we go for coffee? 

Next day we visited the temple which has been in the process of being renovated since 2013 and I think is not due to be completed until 2019. The time lapse film of the shrine been deconstructed was interesting.  Catching the bus back I whispered to Dominic that I thought I recognised one of the women from the onsen but I wasn't sure because she had clothes on! 

waterfall

The next weekend we were invited by Hide to go and watch his friend, Yutaka’s, horse race.  We were told the food at the race track was rubbish so to bring our own.  Yutaka is a very friendly and smiley chap.  He gave me his rosette for the day, which meant that I was the horse owner.  The officials looked somewhat confused at having to let me in everywhere with this door opening rosette!

A day at the races!

I know this is an American product but I love them, mints in the shape of Snoopy and Charlie Brown!  Cannot believe they have not used Peppermint Patty somewhere in the range?!